


Thursdays with Danny

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Drabble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-05-22
Updated: 2005-05-22
Packaged: 2019-05-31 03:52:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15111227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: Danny knew that CJ had a thing; that she felt out of the loop.





	Thursdays with Danny

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

**Thursdays with Danny**

**by:** Montiese

**Character(s):** CJ, Danny  
**Category(s):** Drabble  
**Rating:** YTEEN  
**Summary:** Danny knew that CJ had a thing; that she felt out of the loop.  
**Author's Note:** this is the second installment of 7 Days with CJ. 

"I am not that inept." CJ held the beer to her lips.  "Orange ball goes in basket, two points.  Orange ball goes into basket from far away, three points."

"One point from the free throw line." Danny said.

"The three throw line?"

"Free throw." Danny enunciated.  "Are you doing this on purpose?"

"Nope."

Danny looked at her and she laughed.  He smiled.

"OK, so who are we watching again?" she asked.

"The Lakers and the Knicks.  Is this boring you?"

CJ shrugged, kicking off her shoes and putting her feet up on the coffee table.

"I have to be here...what’s your excuse Opie?"

"I am here to dazzle you with my charm." Danny opened the bag of Doritos between them.

"When does that start?" she asked.

Danny poked her arm and CJ laughed.

"Who is winning Danny?  Shouldn’t they post the score?"

"The Lakers by nine...have dinner with me?"

She looked at him.  He wore the goofy grin he always wore when he talked to her.  It was cute...another life maybe.

"How many times do I have to say no?"

"I don’t know, let’s go for 100."

"Danny!"

"What?  There is a spark CJ; you feel it and so do I.  I could just let it go, but you kissed me first.  You cannot give a guy a cupcake and then put him on a sugar-free diet."

CJ threw her head back and laughed.  Danny never knew if she was laughing at him or with him.  Rarely did he care.

"See, you had me for a minute; you were all sincere and serious.  The cupcake reference killed the validity of the argument."

"I’m craving cupcakes." Danny replied.

"I could eat one.  Danny, you know why we cannot go out...don’t feign ignorance."

He nodded.  CJ did not want to look bad.  Danny knew that CJ had a thing; that she felt out of the loop.  She felt like a woman in a man’s game, which she was.  Every mistake and misstep was held up to more scrutiny and used to push her further from the inner sanctum of the Oval Office.  Being seen with a member of the press in anything resembling a personal relationship would not look good for her.  Still, Danny could not help how she made him feel.  He flinched as a player missed a three-pointer.

"OK, if I wasn’t a reporter you would go out with me?" he asked.

"I don’t know Danny...you are a reporter."

CJ got another beer.  Danny popped the top with his bottle opener.  It was something she could do herself but she knew he enjoyed it so much.  She took the beer from his hands.

"We are friends Danny, and I like the friendship.  I love the goldfish, and drinking beer with you on Thursday nights.  Why would we ruin that with some fleeting sexual thing?"

"Cuz that’s what men and women do.  The world spins on people ruining relationships with sex."

"Even if it was good sex you would give up all we have now?" CJ asked.

"I've heard tale...it is good sex CJ." Danny replied.

They both laughed.

"Am I ever going to live that down?"

"Don’t bet on it.  At least it’s something to be proud of.  Sexual prowess was not bestowed equally to everyone."

"I know that.  Ooh, did that guy just make three points?"

"No, you have to be behind the line."

"What line?"

Danny pointed at the TV.

"That line.  What did you do growing up instead of watching sports?"

"I wrote and I read...like the civilized.  I drank too much coffee and smoked a few cigarettes.  I went through a Dylan Thomas/The Smiths phase from about the ages of 14 to 19."

"I can see you with the sullen, sulky, pouty look.  You were probably sexy."

CJ munched on Doritos.

"Dare I say I was?  I don’t know, guys liked me but I never paid them any mind.  I was trying to get into Berkeley...start a revolution.  Or something like that."

"You seem like the kind of girl who always knew what she wanted CJ."

"I just wanted to get the hell out of Dayton.  What about you?"

"I wanted to be a reporter ever since I saw _All the President’s Men_ on the late show growing up.  It was a job where telling the truth outweighed everything else.  I have been in the White House for too many years to count."

"Remind me to send Woodward and Bernstein a thank you card." CJ replied.

"There is that sense of humor I adore so much."

"Hey, Josh says I use my sense of humor as a defense mechanism.  Do you think that’s true?"

"Yeah, I do.  Moat people do it.  I call it the laugh instead of cry syndrome."

"I prefer to think if I act insane I can't possibly be insane."

"What if you are?" Danny asked.  "You, and the people around you, won't notice when you slip into psychosis."

CJ looked at him.

"How much time do you spend thinking about that Danny?"

"I don’t know, some.  I have to do something on my downtime from being a maverick reporter."

"Yeah.  So, you listen to police scanners and contemplate psychosis." She laughed.  "Be careful Danny, you don’t want your party animal ways to get around."

CJ’s beeper went off.  She pulled it from her hip, looked at it, and put it back.

"Is it important?  Do you have to go?" Danny asked.

"Nah, just a reminder for later.  You know only national or international crisis trumps our Thursdays nights."

He nodded.

"It’s almost over." He said.

"What?"

"The game.  The Lakers are going to take it."

"What’s next?"

"The Cavs and the Pistons."

CJ groaned, saying she would rather watch CNN.

"I don’t know how you do it." She said.

"I am a red-blooded American male.  Do you have a better suggestion?"

"The radio and contemplative silence." CJ said.

"Will I get to put my arm around you?" he asked.

"OK." CJ rolled her eyes.

"Then I’m all for it."

CJ went to her desk and fiddled with the radio.  Raising the antenna, moving it a tad to the right, and a smidge to the left.  Her favorite station finally came in clear.  Of course, she had not moved back to the couch yet.  Billy Joel was singing _She’s Always a Woman_.  CJ loved that song.

"Can I ask you a personal question CJ?"

CJ settled onto the couch.  Danny put his arm around and she smiled, sipping her beer.

"OK."

"If you were seeing someone would you tell me?"

"Off the record...I might.  I am pretty busy so I don’t have time for the intricacies of dating."

"That is what leads me to believe that it is someone close by.  The West Wing, or definitely the White House."

"Don’t leave out the OEOB, some very attractive, tall men work over there.  I love a man in uniform."

"If I figure him out, will you tell me I'm right?" Danny asked.

"God, I feel like I had this conversation recently." She said.  "I'm single Danny."

"The beeper was a dead giveaway.  Plans for later; CJ I am a reporter and cannot be easily fooled or swayed.  You're involved." He said.

"Whatever that means."

"Exactly."

They both laughed.

"I really have to stop surrounding myself with inquisitive men." She muttered.


End file.
